Major League Baseball needs to slow down on slowing it down
Recently, an article on ESPN told of MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s next idea to speed up America’s pasttime. Since Manfred has taken over as commissioner, his number one priority has been to speed up the game to make it more appealing. While I applaud Manfred’s mission to make baseball more appealing to the masses, I, as a baseball fanatic, am weary about his ambition to change so much of the game that basic principles of baseball are changed.
All that being said, there are steps that should be taken to keep baseball from becoming lackadaisical. Instant replay, the half-inning clock, and recent mound visit rules have not changed the integrity of the game but have also assisted in speeding up the pace of play (instant replay may not have sped up the game entirely but it was a much needed addition of technology according to most baseball fans). There are other measures that may also be implemented in the near future. In almost every level up to AAA, the MLB is experimenting with some other ways to speed up the game. In 2014, the AFL (Arizona Fall League) added six measures in an attempt to do this. I wholeheartedly support these measures: the batter’s box rule, inning-break, pitch-change break and pitch clock rule (with a modification), because they don’t affect the integrity of the game.
With this recent interview though, Manfred has fans like myself worried about more changes in the future. Controlling usage of relievers, banning defensive shifts and lowering the mound are all ideas that have been tossed around by the MLB’s newest commissioner. Once these ideas are heard for the first time, baseball’s faithful fans fear there is too much change looming. The goal is to shorten the game, not change it.
Changes to the way managers use relievers is on the forefront of Manfred’s list so let’s start there. The basic principle of baseball is to get three outs, using whatever means necessary. Some teams have pitchers on their active roster that are used in specific situations in games. Controlling the amount of batters a reliever has to face or how many pitching changes a team can make in an inning artificially controls the way teams are able to play, and that isn’t right. Red Sox reliever Tommy Layne states it perfectly in this piece in the Boston Globe. As for Manfred’s position that relievers are “too good at their job”, what do you want from them? To not be as good? Let the opposition get on base? I don’t think that even needs a rebuttal.
Defensive shifts have become a common occurrence nowadays thanks to advanced stat tracking and sabermetrics. It should be plain to see that banning defensive shifts would prevent teams that invest in sabermetrics from competing at their highest level, and we don’t want to do that do we? Non-competivite baseball is much worse than slow baseball.
The mound was last lowered from 15 inches above home plate to 10 inches after the 1968 season. The 1968 season saw a league-wide ERA of 2.98, however, since the mound was lowered in 1969 the composite ERA of the league has been just over 4.00 (Tracy Ringolsby/MLB.com). Lowering the mound would add to the offensive production of the league but wouldn’t that just lengthen the game? I thought the goal was to shorten America’s pastime?
I do have one question though for Mr. Manfred. Why are we shortening the game? I have yet to interact with anyone that has said “I would watch baseball if it was only 15 minutes shorter.” People who don’t like baseball aren’t going to suddenly like its fifteen minutes shorter (on average). Rob Manfred, why don’t we try and hold onto the die-hard baseball fans that love the game for everything that it is before changing the game to appeal to those on the fence of it? The practical changes that have been made were necessary, a few more wouldn’t hurt but please Rob Manfred, in the words of Ted Mosby: Don’t Kill The Bar. Don’t kill the bar that I go to every night to watch some of the greatest athletes in the world compete in one of the greatest games ever created. Don’t kill the bar that millions of people gather around to celebrate their fandom.
Don’t kill the bar, Rob Manfred.
